The Pudding Incident
by Komaki Nakao
Summary: Even the best laid plans can sometimes go awry...


"Dude, why did you make me come here?" Daisuke grumbled as he followed Kou into the gym. Out of all of the events at this year's cultural festival, the beauty pageant was the one he cared about the least. He only went to that ridiculous cross-dressing pageant to support Souji... sort of. If taking embarrassing photos counted as support.

"Why _wouldn't_ we go to this event?" Kou asked. The athlete hadn't had enough time to change out of his Hamlet costume before the start of the pageant, and had opted to wander around in those silly tights for a little bit longer instead of miss this event. Unlike his companion, he had been looking forward to this more than anything.

"Uh… because it's stupid?" replied Daisuke. "Who cares about a bunch of girls walking around and answering stupid questions?"

Kou rolled his eyes; he wasn't even going to dignify that with a response. Who _wouldn't_ care about watching the most beautiful girls in their class parading around in swimsuits? And, best of all…

"Now, for our next contestant, Ms. Chie Satonaka of the second-year's Class 2!" the pink-affroed announcer said, beckoning the short haired girl to come out from behind the curtain. "Come on out, Chie!"

Sure, the other girls weren't bad to look at, but in Kou's eyes, none of them held a candle to Chie. Normally, he didn't have a difficult time talking to girls, but with her... it was a completely different ballgame. His heart would start beating, he would get butterflies in his stomach, he would start stuttering, and suddenly he couldn't think of anything to say, let alone something witty or flirtatious.

_It really sucks,_ Kou thought, but he couldn't keep himself from smiling as the object of his affection made her way to the center of the stage. Somehow, she was even cuter wearing her every day clothes. Kou was grinning from ear to ear; this was _so_ worth it.

"Why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself?" the MC prompted.

"U-Um, I'm kind of shy and reserved…" she said, avoiding eye contact with the audience (Kou couldn't blame her; if he learned anything from his terrible experience with the class play, it was that public speaking was a horrifying). "And my favorite food is… pudding."

"Pudding, huh…" Kou mumbled. That wasn't much to go on, but still...

"Huh? Did you say something?" Daisuke asked.

"Um… it's nothing," Kou said, trying to return his attention to the pageant. It was difficult to pay attention to the other girls, however, now that he had an idea…

* * *

><p>Five months later, Chie Satonaka had suppressed all of her memories concerning that pageant. She preferred to pretend that the embarrassing incident never happened. Except for the part where she got to put makeup on Yosuke. That part was hysterical.<p>

That day was the furthest thing from her mind as she walked up the steps to the second floor of the school, heading to her classroom without stopping to chat with anyone. It was White Day, and the female population of Yasogami High School was more excitable than usual. Girls were rushing about, showing off their gifts. Every year, Chie came to school on this particular day with the same attitude; hopeful, but not expecting anything. That way, she would be pleasantly surprised if she did receive a gift.

Of course, that outlook always changed as soon as she saw the mound of gifts Yukiko received every year. But hey, you've gotta go in fighting, right?

"G'morning, Chie," Yosuke greeted her with a wink; that stupid wink that meant something was up.

"Good morning…" Chie said, hesitating as she made her way to her seat. Souji was already at his desk, with his nose buried in one of those strange self help books he seemed to like so much.

It was only then that she noticed the small bowl on her desk. It was… cute, for lack of a better word; clear glass decorated with pink and red hearts. Whatever was inside was covered by a perfect swirl of whipped topping, and strawberries lined the edge of the bowl. There was even a fork, and a delicately folded napkin placed next to it, as if someone had mistaken her desk for a table in a high class restaurant.

"What is this?" Chie asked, confused.

"Vanilla pudding with strawberries and whipped topping," Souji answered, not taking his eyes off of his book for a second.

"Did you leave it here?" Chie asked.

"Nope," said Souji. Chie had to admit, she was a little disappointed; a White Day gift from Souji would be like a dream come true… But he had already turned her down months earlier; they were just friends, and that was the way it was going to stay.

"Looks like someone got a White Day present," Yosuke teased, leaning back in his chair.

"W-what? No way…" Chie said, staring at the pudding with dismay.

"What else could it be?" Yosuke asked. "Come on, tell us who it's from!"

"How should I know?" Chie snapped back, feeling her face grow redder by the second.

Yosuke rolled his eyes, "Check the card, stupid."

"There isn't one," Souji said calmly.

"Huh? What do you mean there isn't a card?" Yosuke said.

"I already checked," the silver haired boy said. "There isn't one."

"What kind of idiot leaves a gift without saying who it's from?" Yosuke asked. "Doesn't he realize he won't get any credit?"

"Maybe it's a secret admirer?" Souji guessed.

Chie sighed. Man, this was the most (probably unintentionally) disappointing gift. But still, she was curious. Who left the pudding on her desk? And why didn't they sign their name? For all she knew, the gift might not have been for her in the first place… She certainly didn't understand it, at any rate.

"Hey," Souji said, tapping her on the shoulder. "Are you going to eat that?"

"You can have it," Chie sighed, sliding the bowl over to him.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, across the hall in class 2-1, Kou was having his own problem. And Daisuke was being less than sympathetic.<p>

"Man, I can't believe you forgot to leave the card," he said, laughing at his friend's misfortune. "And everyone thinks _I'm_ the dumb one."

"Shut up!" Kou said, wrinkling the frilly pink envelope in his hands with frustration. Damn, and he had spent hours trying to come up with something to write before deciding on, _Happy White Day, enjoy the pudding! – Kou._ And it was too late to sneak back in; students were already starting to show up for class.

"And you spent _months_ learning how to cook that stuff!" Daisuke said, hardly able to control his laughter.

"I'm glad you think his is so funny," Kou muttered, glaring over at him. Well, so much for that idea…


End file.
